1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator and airflow passage for an ice making compartment of the refrigerator, in which a cooling air passage of the ice making compartment is associated with the opening and closing operations of a chilling compartment door to reduce the penetration of foreign substances and airflow loss. In the refrigerator and airflow passage of the present invention, the cooling air passage between the ice making compartment formed in the chilling compartment door and a refrigerator body is selectively opened and closed according to the closing and opening of the chilling compartment door to reduce the penetration of foreign substances and leakage of cooling air, while supplying more cooling air.
2. Description of the Background Art
A refrigerator is an electrical appliance in which a refrigerating cycle of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation is repeated using refrigerant to store food at a low temperature. Large refrigerators are becoming common and various types of refrigerators have been developed to satisfy the demands of the user. For example, a top refrigerator type is known in which a refrigeration chamber is located above a freezing chamber, a bottom refrigerator type is known in which a refrigeration chamber is located below a freezing chamber, and a side-by-side type refrigerator is known in which a freezing chamber and a refrigeration chamber are positioned left and right of one another.
The freezing chamber and the refrigeration chamber are separated in from one another in these types of refrigerators. Also, these types of refrigerators provide additional functions as well as basic chilling and freezing functions. For example, an ice making unit provides the functions of freezing water and storing and dispensing of the ice. The ice making unit may be installed in the freezing chamber or in the door of the refrigeration chamber. In a situation where the ice making unit is installed in the refrigeration chamber door, the refrigeration chamber door includes an ice making compartment to accommodate the ice making unit, and cooling air is supplied to the ice making compartment.
To supply cooling air to the ice making compartment, a cooling air inlet hole is defined in the ice making compartment, and a cooling air supply hole is defined in the refrigerator body. The cooling air inlet hole and the cooling air supply hole are interconnected in order to pass the cooling air when the refrigeration chamber door is closed. However, the cooling air inlet hole and the cooling air supply hole are spaced apart from one another when the refrigeration chamber door is opened, thereby permitting the cooling air hole to be exposed to the external environment.
Since the cooling air inlet hole is exposed to the outside when the refrigeration chamber door is opened, foreign substances such as dust can go into the ice making compartment. Also, the inflow of the foreign substances may be increased when the size of the cooling air inlet hole is increased to supply more cooling air to the ice making compartment. Further, although the supply of cooling air to the ice making compartment can be increased by increasing the size of the cooling air inlet hole, such an arrangement causes increased leakage of the cooling air when the refrigeration chamber door is opened, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the ice making compartment.